Guest Dave Candi Posted August 12, 2007 Posted August 12, 2007 Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is partitioned 3 times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is too many partitions for xp pro? What is the maximum amount of partitions aloud? I'm getting problems running defrag and am wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in advance.
Guest DL Posted August 12, 2007 Posted August 12, 2007 Re: maximum drives? Its not too many, haveing too little free space can cause various sys tools to fail "Dave Candi" <DaveCandi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:02F6422D-C49C-47B5-AA47-189F5C7D7C67@microsoft.com... > Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is partitioned 3 > times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is too many partitions > for > xp pro? What is the maximum amount of partitions aloud? I'm getting > problems > running defrag and am wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in > advance. > >
Guest Jerry Posted August 12, 2007 Posted August 12, 2007 Re: maximum drives? You are limited in the number of partitions by the letters in the alphabet - Z is the last partition you can have. "Dave Candi" <DaveCandi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:02F6422D-C49C-47B5-AA47-189F5C7D7C67@microsoft.com... > Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is partitioned 3 > times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is too many partitions > for > xp pro? What is the maximum amount of partitions aloud? I'm getting > problems > running defrag and am wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in > advance. > >
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted August 12, 2007 Posted August 12, 2007 Re: maximum drives? On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:24:01 -0700, Dave Candi <DaveCandi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is partitioned 3 > times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is too many partitions for > xp pro? No, but see below. > What is the maximum amount of partitions aloud? I'm getting problems > running defrag and am wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in > advance. No, it's not what's causing the problems. From a practical standpoint it's hard to deal with more partitions than the number of letters in the alphabet permit, but other than that, you can have as many as you want. But *should* you have five partitions? You don't say what you are using them for, but my guess is that you shouldn't. How many partitions to have is a matter of organization, and it's your choice how to organize your drive(s). Reply back with information on what each partition is used for, and I (and probably others) will comment on those uses. I think five partitions are much too many for almost everyone, and my guess is that your partition scheme is based on misunderstandings of how some things work. I think many people over-partition, but that doesn't mean it's always bad to have more than one partition. My view is that most people's partitioning scheme should be based on their backup scheme. If, for example, you backup by creating a clone or image of the entire drive, then a single partition might be best. If, on the other hand, you backup only your data, then the backup process is facilitated by having all data in a separate partition. Except for those running multiple operating systems, there is seldom any benefit to having more than two partitions. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Gerry Posted August 12, 2007 Posted August 12, 2007 Re: maximum drives? Dave Please provide details of the problems running Defrag and a copy of the Analysis Report. -- Hope this helps. Gerry ~~~~ FCA Stourport, England Enquire, plan and execute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dave Candi wrote: > Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is > partitioned 3 times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is > too many partitions for xp pro? What is the maximum amount of > partitions aloud? I'm getting problems running defrag and am > wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in advance.
Guest Patrick Keenan Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: maximum drives? "Dave Candi" <DaveCandi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:02F6422D-C49C-47B5-AA47-189F5C7D7C67@microsoft.com... > Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is partitioned 3 > times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is too many partitions > for > xp pro? What is the maximum amount of partitions aloud? I'm getting > problems > running defrag and am wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in > advance. The short answer is No, at 5 you don't have too many partitions and *that* isn't causing problems with defrag - the maximum would be 24. A and B are reserved for floppies, C is the default first hard disk, and you can go to Z. In an ordinary system you'd have at most 23 available, because there will be one optical drive. The longer answer starts with other questions - like what exactly are the problems you're experiencing with defrag? If you happened to choose to have 22 extra partitions, other issues would arise, such as what happens when you attach a USB drive or attempt to map a network drive. HTH -pk
Guest Lil' Dave Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: maximum drives? "Dave Candi" <DaveCandi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:02F6422D-C49C-47B5-AA47-189F5C7D7C67@microsoft.com... > Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is partitioned 3 > times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is too many partitions > for > xp pro? What is the maximum amount of partitions aloud? I'm getting > problems > running defrag and am wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in > advance. > > Drive/Partition letters are limited to c through z. You can have more using folder names instead of letters. I don't know if there is a limit. Most people have at least one CD/DVD device, this will take a drive letter. Other than the 3 OS partitions, I use 3 data partitions on 1 physical hard drive. Defrag can crap the bed for a number of reasons. None of which, I think, is what you're guessing. Is there any reason provided by defrag for its failure? Dave
Guest M.I.5¾ Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: maximum drives? "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoSpam@MSN.com> wrote in message news:%23q5OoMS3HHA.2064@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > You are limited in the number of partitions by the letters in the > alphabet - Z is the last partition you can have. > Not correct. Partitions can be mounted as folders within an existing drive letter. > "Dave Candi" <DaveCandi@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:02F6422D-C49C-47B5-AA47-189F5C7D7C67@microsoft.com... >> Can anyone help? I have 2 hard drives in my pc the first is partitioned 3 >> times, the second twice. Is it possible that this is too many partitions >> for >> xp pro? What is the maximum amount of partitions aloud? I'm getting >> problems >> running defrag and am wondering if this is whats causing it? Thanks in >> advance. >> >> > >
Guest dobey Posted August 13, 2007 Posted August 13, 2007 Re: maximum drives? "M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message news:46c00734$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net... > > "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoSpam@MSN.com> wrote in message > news:%23q5OoMS3HHA.2064@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >> You are limited in the number of partitions by the letters in the >> alphabet - Z is the last partition you can have. >> > > Not correct. Partitions can be mounted as folders within an existing > drive letter. > I think people are just using the terms "drive" and "partition" in too loose a fashion for this argument. ;-) <snip>
Guest M.I.5¾ Posted August 14, 2007 Posted August 14, 2007 Re: maximum drives? "dobey" <a@v.nox> wrote in message news:OswU10Z3HHA.4880@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > > "M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message > news:46c00734$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net... >> >> "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoSpam@MSN.com> wrote in message >> news:%23q5OoMS3HHA.2064@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >>> You are limited in the number of partitions by the letters in the >>> alphabet - Z is the last partition you can have. >>> >> >> Not correct. Partitions can be mounted as folders within an existing >> drive letter. >> > > I think people are just using the terms "drive" and "partition" in too > loose a fashion for this argument. > ;-) You are probably right, but it should be remembered that not everyone who reads this newsgroup is necessarily very knowledgable on computers. Some newbie could walk away with the idea that 24 is the hard and fast maximum number of partitions (as in drive letters) that XP will allow you to use (plus the 2 floppies of course).
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted August 14, 2007 Posted August 14, 2007 Re: maximum drives? On Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:42:37 +0100, "M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote: > > "dobey" <a@v.nox> wrote in message > news:OswU10Z3HHA.4880@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > > > > "M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message > > news:46c00734$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net... > >> > >> "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoSpam@MSN.com> wrote in message > >> news:%23q5OoMS3HHA.2064@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > >>> You are limited in the number of partitions by the letters in the > >>> alphabet - Z is the last partition you can have. > >>> > >> > >> Not correct. Partitions can be mounted as folders within an existing > >> drive letter. > >> > > > > I think people are just using the terms "drive" and "partition" in too > > loose a fashion for this argument. > > ;-) > > You are probably right, but it should be remembered that not everyone who > reads this newsgroup is necessarily very knowledgable on computers. Some > newbie could walk away with the idea that 24 is the hard and fast maximum > number of partitions (as in drive letters) that XP will allow you to use > (plus the 2 floppies of course). Although you're right that it isn't really the "hard and fast maximum," from a practical standpoint it doesn't matter very much. It's hard to imagine a good reason for anyone to have anywhere near that many. Unless you are booting multiple operating systems, having more than two partitions is counterproductive for most people. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Recommended Posts